Margaret Thatcher: The Iron lady

Margaret Thatcher: The Iron lady

Margaret Hilda Thatcher is a former British prime minister, the longest serving of the 20^th century; she is also the only woman to have held the position.  She was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on the 13^th October 1925.  Margaret Thatcher is best known for her strict conservative policies, which are known as Thatcherism. During her time in the office, Margaret Thatcher was dubbed the “Iron Lady” because she was strict with her policies and rules. She served from 1979 until 1990.  She is also the Baroness, Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven in the county of Lincolnshire; this allows her to sit in the House of Lords.

Margaret Thatcher, through out her political career has had both good and bad influences on Britain. But it remains a fact that she has greatly influenced Britain and its politicians, some of the more notable influences are on David Cameron and Tony Blair who both used Thatcherism in their politics.  While she was in office Margaret Thatcher shaped every aspect of British politics, the economy, institutions and foreign policy. One of her most important challenges and goals was to recover the economy; she approached this challenge with striking energy and determination. While apprehending this issue she became one of the founders, alongside Ronal Regan, of a school of conservative conviction politics, this gained her a high international profile, the highest for a British politician. During Margaret Thatcher’s first term as prime minister, the government promised to reverse Britain’s economic decline, in order to accomplish this some painful measures were required. Direct taxes were cut, but the budget had to be balanced, this meant that indirect taxes were increased. The economy was definitely in a recession, inflation was rising and interest rates also had to be raised. Finally the unemployment began going down from three million. Margaret Thatcher gained support from the people with her decision on the Falkland war. She chose to protect the countries national interest; instead of trying to diplomatically solve the issue, she sent the countries task force. The Argentine attacked the Falkland without any reason; therefore Margaret Thatcher refused to diplomatically solve the issue, and wanted to regain the land that was her countries. The greatest challenge was to come in the second term when the miner union went on a yearlong strike, which was one of the longest and most violent in British history, but the union was defeated which proved that Thatcher government was strong and would last long. When she brought down the strike Margaret Thatcher was protecting her countries national interest, which she always did, but this often gained unpopularity with others. In1984 while the strike was still underway the IRA (Irish Republican Army) attempted to murder Thatcher by bombing the hotel she was staying at. But her re-forms and strict policies lead to the improvement of the economy through the 1983-87. The government began selling off its assets, privatization, and this lead to even further improvements in the economy. Further on in her third term the economy boomed, and the interest rated doubled. Her third term ended in 1990, and she didn’t win a forth term. Even after 1990 she remained an important political figure, she gave lectures and wrote several books. After having several small strokes in 2002 she announced that she would retire. Her husband, Denis Thatcher died in 2003.

In my opinion Margaret Thatcher has had a very important political career and has made many important changes and reform to the government at the time. Most of the major changes in the government were related to economics and foreign policies. Because Britain at the time was in an economic decline the main focus and challenge was retrieving the once stable economy. Through cutting the direct taxes, balancing the budget and shutting down unprofitable business Margaret Thatcher managed to bring back the blossoming economy. Even though she was often strict and made decision that hurt people on the short term, it helped the economy and the people in the long run. Both critics and supporter recognize the Thatcher period as a period of fundamental importance to Britain.

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Jesus Christ Super Star Movie Review 1/30/2012 Luka Luketic

Jesus Christ Super Star Review

One thing I'll say for him, Jesus is cool. (Caiaphas)

Jesus Christ super Star a movie adaptation of the magnificent rock opera co-written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Norman Jewison’s adaptation focuses mainly on the conflict between Jesus and Judas in the weeks prior to Jesse’s crucifixion. The movie begins with a group of hippy actors arriving in Israel, The Holy land, and begins preparing for the filming of Jesus Christ Superstar. The musical brings to question was Jesus really the son of god or was he just a regular man, through singing and dancing the actors replicate the events that took place thousands of years ago in Jerusalem. Not only is the Rock Opera entertaining but it tells the story of Jesus Christ from a different perspective, Judas’s view, and it retells the whole story in a way more appealing to the audience.

Jesus Chris Superstar is a Historical Rock Opera filmed in 1973 and directed by Norman Jewison it was produced by Universal Studios in America. The movie was originally filmed in English, and there are no spoken lines, all of them are sung. It was rated PG, meaning Parental guidance, because there are some violent scenes (the 39 lashes and the crucifixion). The movie is mainly about the relationship between Jesus and Judas; it also shows the events following up to the Crucifixion of Jesus, the last supper and the betrayal of Jesus.

Even though the movie is in form of a hippie rock opera, the events are closely related to those in the bible. Judas fears that Jesus is starting to believe the rumors that he is god, he also fears that Jesus followers will torn against him when they figure out that he isn’t god, and that the Romans will bring them down if they attract too much attention. Later on in the cave the apostles as when they are going to Jerusalem, they sing the song “What’s the Buzz?” This angers Jesus and he replies "Don't you try to think ahead / Save tomorrow for tomorrow / Think about today instead" This heats up the argument between Jesus and Judas even further.  Caiaphas and the high priest discuss Jesus; Caiaphas thinks that Jesus’ popularity will cause the Romans to bring him down. He mentions rumors of Jesus becoming king, later on the council sings “This Jesus Must Die”.  Later on Judas goes to the dessert while thinking whether or not to betray Jesus, Then a row of Roman tanks appear coming over the hill, they pressure him, while running away Judas enters the temple. Judas has come there to betray Jesus; he wants to explain himself (Sings Damned for all time/Blood money), but no one listens to him. Caiaphas offers Judas money (Will pay you in silver), Judas refuses; He eventually gives in when Caiaphas says that he can give the money to the poor. Judas tells them that Jesus will be in the Garden of Gethsemane.  During the Last Supper Jesus is feeling sorry for himself, because he knows what is going to happen to him. There he also makes the famous prediction that one of his apostles will betray him and that another one will deny knowing him. After a heated argument between himself and Jesus, Judas goes off to bring the soldiers that will arrest Jesus. He is then taken to Pontius Pilate, who questions him if he is really the son of god and if he is the king of the Jews. The crowd demands that Jesus is crucified, but Pilate refuses, saying that Jesus has committed no crime. Jesus is then taken to King Herod, who tells Jesus that if he performs a miracle, he will be set free. When Jesus doesn’t answer, the king sends Jesus to Pontius Pilate for his sentence.

Jesus, is the main protagonist of the rock opera, he is wise and wishes to spread his religion and ideas even further. He is betrayed by Jesus because he refuses to listen to him, and continues spreading his ideas, Judas feared that Jesus was becoming too popular and the Romans would bring him down. Judas, the entire movie is filmed from his perspective, in a way. He is angered by Jesus because he refuses to listen to him; this is the key reason why he betray Jesus. Judas is a very complicated character, he helps Jesus spread his ideas, but also wants to remain small so that the Roman’s don’t consider them a threat, he betrays Jesus but then feels sorry, he seems to regret his actions often. Pontius Pilate is in my opinion a fair man, he said that Jesus committed no crime and that he shouldn’t be sentenced, but Jesus refused to speak and defend himself, therefore Pontius Pilate had to sentence Jesus.

Being a rock opera, this wouldn’t be a true review if I didn’t comment on the music and dancing. From a musical point of view Jesus Christ super star is a truly excellent musical, the lyricist and music producers managed to incorporate historical elements into the songs. Even though it is a movie, all of the songs are sung by the actors, which is fascinating taking in account that they were also running and jumping while singing. I believe that the song by Simon Zealots/ Poor Jerusalem deserves the most recognition because the actors are doing all types of stunts and are still singing. The song is about how Jesus’ followers are showing his devotion to him.  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPq_914s2Jw) Simon and Judas have are engaged in the best performances in the musical. Simon is portrayed by Larry T Marshal and Carl Anderson acts in the role of Judas. These two characters really added a great amount to themovie ; they made it funny and interesting.

Another interesting thing in the Rock opera is the idea behind the movie. I found the whole concept of the movie unusual and in the same time really exiting and well thought of. The fact that hippies are acting out a rock opera about the final days of Jesus is interesting by itself, but the fact that it is all done in the middle of the desert adds a special dose of excitement . The dessert is also in the holy land (Israel) so it makes the whole movie more authentic. If you deeply think about the hippies and the Jesses followers, you can see that they have some common ideas; they both want to stop violence and believe that everyone is equal. That is the reason why I think the hippies are acting in this movie. The movie isn’t made only to entertain, there are some references to the Vietnam War going on at the time. The tanks chasing Judas and the roman guards with guns are the most notable references.  

If you haven’t watched this movie already, you defiantly should. It is a truly spectacular mix of rock opera and historical film making; it follows the biblical events through singing and dancing. I think that both children and adults would like this movie. But I believe that adults would understand it better, therefore the singing and dancing part may be more appealing to children but the story line and hidden motifs would be better for adults. The key reason why I liked this movie is because it combines rock opera and a biblical story line, which is in my opinion hard to achieve. Secondly I liked the movie because the mood of the movie always made me happy and characters like Simon and Judas really made me sing along to the songs that were sung. Over all I would rate this movie a 9.5/10, it is a really good movie which I recommend you watch as soon as you get the chance.

Fall Of the Roman Empire

There are multiple reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. One of them is the geography, it was accessible from all sides, meaning that there was nothing protecting it, and it was basically shaped like a donut. The constant attacks by the barbarians weakened the empire and caused it to invest in military. Over the course of 300 years several Barbarian tribes had made their way into the empire.  As the emperors changed they also changed the senate, this caused corruption, which weakened the economy. The taxes were higher and the prices were growing, while the wages got smaller. The barbarian invasions caused the army to weaken; this meant that there had to be more soldiers, meaning that more money was required. There was a decrease in work force since the number of Romans decreased due to the increasing food prices, which meant that many people left their farms and found other jobs, but that meant that they had to live on the streets.

I think that the key reason for the fall of Rome was the lack of quality leaders, because a good leader would have kept the empire in order. With bad leadership the rest of the problems came easily. Another issue which I believe was crucial to the fall of Rome was the sheer size of the empire, it was too big, and wasn’t ideally positioned, meaning that invaders could easily attack.